Magnesium problem

[brokereefman]

Hello there,
I have a question for everyone....What is your preferred method of keeping a safe magnesium level.

My calcium was over 500, alk under 2meq, and mag at 680ppm.
I had sort of a tank crash....lost most of my purple tip sps, a green cap and highly stressed orange cap.
I did a water change and brought the mag level to 980ppm and the corals have since started to color up and with some polyp extension.

Now i would like to see how to raise it up to at least 1200ppm but not sure the best way to do this.

Thank you,
Paul

 

[jlinzmaier]

You may want to check this out.
Do-It-Yourself Magnesium Supplements for the Reef Aquarium by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

Many people use a DIY mag chloride and mag sulfate mixture. I'm currently using Kent's tech M but it's much more expensive than buying the dry mix and making the appropriate concoction. Bulk reef supply has the mix and directions for a mag mixture with the appropriate ionic balance.
Click the u-tube video:

High Purity Crystalline Magnesium Chloride Flakes Bulk Reef Supply

calculator
Bulk Reef Supply


If your using a calcium reactor you can add a magnesium media to release magnesium and maintain at a steady level.

Jeremy

 

[Bri Guy]

Ive got some extra mag flake if you need it, LMK

 

[customcolor]

jumping that high that fast is unwise...to what i have read 100 per day is max...i to have some mag left...i could give you about 1/2 gal worth if you bring over the ice cream bucket

 

[Fishcrazy06]

I may be able to get you some Tech-M As well Paul. let me know which way you would like to go. Send me a PM if need be. But yeah take it slowly. And what happened to the tank?

Eric

 

[brokereefman]

You may want to check this out.
Do-It-Yourself Magnesium Supplements for the Reef Aquarium by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

Many people use a DIY mag chloride and mag sulfate mixture. I'm currently using Kent's tech M but it's much more expensive than buying the dry mix and making the appropriate concoction. Bulk reef supply has the mix and directions for a mag mixture with the appropriate ionic balance.
Click the u-tube video:

High Purity Crystalline Magnesium Chloride Flakes Bulk Reef Supply

calculator
Bulk Reef Supply


If your using a calcium reactor you can add a magnesium media to release magnesium and maintain at a steady level.

Jeremy

Thank you Jeremy, that was very good reading information.

Yes I am using a calcium reactor, after close to 2 1/2 years of using one this is the first time I had such a proplem.

-Paul

 

[Fishcrazy06]

:after_boom::nerd:Hmmmm Glad I got the good Calcium Reactor then :tongue:

 

[brokereefman]

Thanks also to Brian, Dave and Eric,

I am going to go to R.A.P.E. tomorrow and drop off some fighting conchs, so as long as I am there I will pick up some magnesium buffer.


Everything other than the green cap, and purple tip acro is fine, the orange cap had it's polyps extended today when I got home.

I did a 32gallon water change the other day...I did not think it was going to raise the mag as much as it did. I am going to also find some magnesium media as Jeremy suggested and ad it to the calcium reactor once all levels are good.

Thanks
Paul

 

[jlinzmaier]

Be very careful with which magnesium media you use. Many people used dolomite in the past but there is a drawback to using dolomite. A calcium reactor dossolves aragonite media which leaves an effluent which is a combination of ca and alkalinity in equal proportions to what reef inhabitants utilize. Meaning, with a calcium reactor your ca/alk balance won't get out of wack (and will actually stay quite equally aligned) unless you have some sort of major precipitation event or add an addative that contains one or the other. Calcium reactors add ca and alk in equal proportions the same way that kalk does. When using dolomite in a calcium reactor to maintain mag levels you'll get a release of magnesium, however, you'll also get a significant release of alkalinity in addition. This will leave you with an ever increasing alkalinity if you keep your ca and mag levels steady or (in reverse) if you keep your alk levels steady your ca will decrease with time. The rate and severity at which this occurs is dependant on the effluent rate, ca/alk/mag consumption rate of your tank, and any other supplements you provide which also contain ca, alk, or mag.

No worries, there's a solution. There is a magnesium media on the market which doesn't release large amounts of alkalinity and will keep your params in alignment when used in addition to common aragonite media in a ca reactor.

The only place I have found it is at Zeovit USA.
ZEOMag*::*Zeovit Media & Misc.*::*ZEOvit USA

There may very well be other suppliers with the same product but I'm just not aware of them. I've used this product for over a year to maintain my mag levels and it's worked wonderfully with no imbalance of ca, alk, or mag (if used in the appropriate amount in relation to the tanks consumption rate). The rule of thumb is 10-15% zeo mag to 85 or 90% aragonite media.

Boomer on RC is an expert on geology/chemistry and can help you with further details if you have any questions on dolomite vs zeomag media (which is really "activated" dolomite).

Here's a thread in which he explained the details to me. It took me a while to comprehend the chemistry but Boomer is a great guy and eventually put it in plain terms that I was able to comprehend.
Reef Central Online Community - Dolomite in a ca reactor

Jeremy

 

[Paul_N]

Do you have any idea how long the 1 lb bag from Zeovit will last?

 

[jlinzmaier]

Do you have any idea how long the 1 lb bag from Zeovit will last?

Depends on the effluent rate. I ran an effluent rate of about 30-40 ml/min with one cup of zeomag in the reactor. That one cup lasted an entire year until I swapped out my aragonite media. When I swapped out my aragonite media I put in a fresh cup of zeo mag media. I guess I didn't really need to but it was starting to break down into smaller peices and I just wanted to put a fresh new batch in. I'd guess there is about 3-4 cups in a 1lb bag because it looks like I have a little over a cup left.

Good luck.

Jeremy

 

[Paul_N]

Depends on the effluent rate. I ran an effluent rate of about 30-40 ml/min with one cup of zeomag in the reactor. That one cup lasted an entire year until I swapped out my aragonite media. When I swapped out my aragonite media I put in a fresh cup of zeo mag media. I guess I didn't really need to but it was starting to break down into smaller peices and I just wanted to put a fresh new batch in. I'd guess there is about 3-4 cups in a 1lb bag because it looks like I have a little over a cup left.

Good luck.

Jeremy

Thanks Jeremy! I am going to give it a try instead of dosing BRS mag. I was thinking of buying a dosing pump to add mag daily. This is cheaper and one less thing to plug in or mix...:bigsmile:

 

[jlinzmaier]

Glad I could help. It really is quite easy once you get just the right amount of mag media in your reactor.

Jeremy

 

[Fishcrazy06]

Jeremy how does one find out what is the right amount of Mag in the reactor? And just how much is the zeo mag?

Eric

 

[jlinzmaier]

Jeremy how does one find out what is the right amount of Mag in the reactor? And just how much is the zeo mag?

Eric

The rule of thumb to get a start at honing in the right amount of mag media is approx 10-15% zeo mag and the remainder (85-90%) regular aragonite media. You then need to test your mag levels over the next few weeks to see if it's staying steady, rising, or dropping. Obviously if it's dropping you need to add more mag media and if it starts raising you need to take some out. This is impossible to do unless you keep the mag media in some sort of mesh bag to keep it separate from the other media. If you mix it in with the other media and you didn't add the correct amount there's no way to then separate the aragonite from the zeomag. I got really lucky and simply started with using one cup and hit it right on the money. Never needed to make any changes from there. For the most part, it's quite simple to get the right amount of media proportions if you start with the general rule of 10-15% zeomag. It's not as difficult as it sounds.

Looks like zeovit usa is selling a 1lb bag for $24. I've searched around for different suppliers of activted dolomite (zeomag) and was unsuccessful. There are plenty of stores selling zeo products but I believe they are held to strict pricing determined by KZ (korallinzucht).

You may want to check with my friend Brad (condiman). He gets me everything cheaper than I can find on-line and you don't pay for shipping. I know he is a wholesaler through zeovit usa or KZ directly - one or the other.

Jeremy

 

[customcolor]

must you use that in a cal reactor ....can you just make a reactor like a denitrofire (water getting recycled in it but only drops per minute out put)

 

[Fishcrazy06]

Paul I will have your Tech-M by Friday at my house. Its the gallon jug of it

Eric

 

[jlinzmaier]

must you use that in a cal reactor ....can you just make a reactor like a denitrofire (water getting recycled in it but only drops per minute out put)

Sorry Dave I'm not well versed with the use and chemistry of a denitrifyer. I have yet to take on that adventure!! The zeo mag media requires a ph of 6.5-6.7 for dissolution (same as aragonite media). If you had some sort of reactor which lowered the pH to that level then I would guess you could utilize it in the same manner. Sorry, I'm not sure what affect a denitrifying reactor has on the pH of water within the reactor. If it does lower pH inside the reactor to a level near 6.5-6.7 then you may want to check with someone more versed on the chemistry of a denitrifyer to ensure there won't be any ionic imbalances that will alter molecules and create less than desireable results.

If you find it is possible to utilize zeomag in a denitrifyer let us know so we can all learn a thing or two. I'd venture to say that there aren't a lot of us well versed with a denitrifying reactor. Maybe some day you could start a thread with your set up explaining the chemistry and linking to some literature to show everyone just how they work. I'm all for learning!!!

Jeremy

 

[customcolor]

to my readings the denitrifyer does lower the ph do to the lack of o2 in it...thats why its said to put arm media in with it so it can help with ca....but the one draw back of a denitrifyer is that it lowers alk....i wasnt watching mine when i had it running and my alk droped to 4 in 3 months....granted i only had 10 in nitrates from 50 but all my zoas where closing up....it could have ben the alk or the low nitrates i dont know.

 

[customcolor]

but i bet if you dont put the solfer in it it would still lower the ph and desove the arm and zeo mag and not denitrophy.........uuummmm dang it now i have anither diy idea !!!